


stabilizer

by eternalmagic



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Gen, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, also this is more pre-slash than anything, brief mentions of the rest of the vld crew and lotor, but mostly just keith and hunk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-27
Updated: 2018-02-27
Packaged: 2019-03-24 15:06:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,028
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13813722
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eternalmagic/pseuds/eternalmagic
Summary: Keith wakes up in a healing pod, and usually feels more adrift than he should be. This time, though, he finds the tether he needs to keep from floating too far away.





	stabilizer

**Author's Note:**

> a request for a friend on tumblr--they love heith, and the world can always use more good heith content. ;u; the original prompt was "heith + keith breaking his leg on a mission", but ended up being less about the actual injury and more about the aftermath of it all. anyway, hopefully this isn't too ooc and that you enjoy it!

Despite being in space for who knows how long, and having been healed in these pods before, Keith will never be used to falling unconscious on some strange planet and then waking up feeling like he’s floating.

The rest of the team is hovering when Keith is let out of the cryopod, stumbling a little on the leg he knew he’d broken as he lands. He feels Shiro catch him in an instant, and despite having been asleep for who knows how long, Keith still feels drained and drowsy.

There’s a chorus of concerned  _ how do you feel? _ s and  _ do you need anything? _ s, and Keith answers as best he can. Physically, he feels fine, but minutes ago he was being thrown across the asteroid field they’d been fighting a Galra scout force in. Moments ago, he crashed into an asteroid rocketing towards him, and his leg was snapping in two at the force. He’d screamed in pain before his world turned black.

But he smiles faintly and assures everyone that he’s okay, trying to keep the others from worrying. He’d already scared them once during the Coalition’s attack against Zarkon by nearly sacrificing himself for the cause--it was something they all hesitated to talk about, other than the pleading for him to leave the Blade.

Lance had been right--they have one too many Paladin with Shiro back. Keith knows that he was always going to be the odd one out.

Shiro has brought a set of clean clothes for Keith to change into, and the others leave to give him privacy to change. The silence they leave behind is deafening, and Keith is once again left alone to his thoughts. Before he’d joined the Blade, before he’d been given the Black Lion, before all of this, Keith had enjoyed the quiet solitude of his desert shack--he didn’t mind being trapped inside his own head.

But now he’s hating what he finds there, the once comforting silence now mocking. He doesn’t want to face that silence again, especially not now.

He finishes changing, and takes his time leaving the room. He almost doesn’t see the person waiting for him at the door until he hears them push off of the wall, footfalls heavy, and feels a hand settle on his shoulder. He jumps, almost startled out of his skin.

“H-Hey! Sorry, Keith, I didn’t mean to frighten you.” Hunk winces a little in sympathy.

Keith murmurs a quiet response, something about it being alright.

Hunk watches him for a moment. “Just thought you might be hungry. Everyone else ate a while ago, but I’d be more than happy to make something just for you.”

Keith blinks--he supposes he  _ is _ hungry. That was the weird thing about the healing pods--you may not think you’d been asleep at all, but your body definitely did not agree. Keith feels his ears turn pink as his stomach indeed rumbles at the thought of something to eat.

Sheepishly, he says, “If you don’t mind, I’d really like that.”

Hunk just smiles, never one to poke fun at another’s expense. In fact, it’s almost as if he hasn’t notice Keith’s embarrassment. He pats Keith’s shoulder, gesturing for Keith to follow him to the castle’s kitchen.

As they walk, Hunk fills the silence with chatter--mostly talking about what’s happened in the two days that Keith’s been out (which is actually pretty good, considering how awful his broken leg must have been to send him unconscious almost immediately). Apparently, most everyone had kept a low profile, minding their own business except for their now daily activity reports from around the Coalition. Lotor was the one least present as far as Hunk could tell, but he’d been that way since joining up with them.

Hunk continues to talk even after they’ve reached the kitchen and Keith has settled into a chair nearby to watch Hunk as he works. It’s moved on to other things, and Keith can only assume it’s Hunk stream of consciousness--letting things flow from his brain to his mouth.

Keith makes quiet noises to indicate he’s still listening when there’s a lull in the conversation, and he’s surprised to find that he genuinely  _ is _ paying attention. Maybe it was the desire to get out of his own head for a while, because he probably would not have paid Hunk’s rambling about the latest engineering project he and Pidge were fiddling with would have put him to sleep otherwise. He’s no genius, and scientific jargon tends to send his mind whirling, but the way Hunk’s explaining it actually leaves him feeling much less confused than usual.

Eventually Hunk finishes his dish with a flourish, setting it down in front of Keith. He holds out a utensil to eat with. “Here you go. Sorry I’ve kind of just been talking at you, by the way. Lance and Pidge don’t mind, but I forget that some people mind find it annoying.”

“It’s okay.” Keith shrugs. “I don’t mind it either, really.”

He doesn’t say that it’s been a blessing, keeping the deafening silence of his mind at bay. That Hunk has been offering something to keep him anchored when as of late he’s been feeling like he’s floating through space without a tether to keep him attached. He knows that everyone worries about him, wonders if he’ll try to sacrifice himself again, but are too hesitant to say anything about it. But Keith’s feeling a bit better, focusing on Hunk’s words instead for at least a little bit.

Hunk’s smile lights up his whole face, and Keith is briefly reminded of the brilliant sunrises he used to watch when they were all still on Earth.

“Good. Now eat up, you must be starving by now.”

Keith does as he’s told, smiling gently as Hunk turns away, resuming his lecture on basic electrical engineering. He feels better than he usually does in the time just after he wakes up in the sick bay of the ship, and is in surprisingly high spirits when he goes to bed.

In the following days, he seeks out Hunk’s company more than anyone else’s.

**Author's Note:**

> you can find me on tumblr at x-eternalmagic and howdomaddie, or on twitter at howdomaddie!


End file.
